Barry Mayo

Who is Barry Mayo?

Barry Mayo is a United States radio executive. In 1981 he helped launch WRKS-FM in New York as the first station to play rap music on a regular basis. The station's success led him to be promoted as the first black general manager of RKO General.

In 2003 he succeeded Judy Ellis as general manager of Emmis Radio New York; the first African-American general manager of Emmis Broadcasting. In this role he oversaw WRKS-FM as well as WQHT-FM and WQCD-FM.

In 2007 Mayo was named President of Lanham, MD-based Radio One, the nation's premier black owned broadcasting company.

He is a graduate of Howard University. While he attended Howard he was noted for starting its current college station WHBC 830 AM, or otherwise known as Howard's Black Communicator. Mayo is also an accomplished photographer, having first studied photography with Jno Cook at Columbia College Chicago. His photographs have been featured in several exhibitions and publications.